Everlasting
by Elizabeth von Schweitzer
Summary: They didn't agree on much. In fact, they rarely agreed on anything and fought all the time. In spite of their differences, they had one important thing in common: they were crazy about each other. KaibaXOC Rated M for sexuality, violence, and language.
1. Chapter 1

**Sorry for the long hiatus, everyone. But, good news, I decided to revisit some of my stories, and this is one of the ones that I really want to have finished. Most of the plot has been reworked, and it's a bit more serious (for those who remember the old version, it had a lot of what would be considered filler at best). The story will make more sense now, and it'll be a better read, I promise.**

**Belladonna Sarutobi is (c) to me, and I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh! I just enjoy screwing with it for kicks.  
**

**Chapter One**

_The sun will never set on my love for you_

_You, never tainted, always pure_

"Guess I don't stand a chance. Unless maybe I use...the Breath of Life card."

It was lunch, and the students had scattered around, eating, talking, or in this case, playing a game that had taken the world by storm. It was a new card game called Duel Monsters, and while some had talent, others seemed to have a long way to go.

Joey Wheeler was among the latter.

"Huh? Can she do that?" he asked.

Yugi Moto had a grin on his face as he nodded. "Oh yeah. The Breath of Life wears down rock monsters, reducing them to rubble."

The girl sitting across from Joey smiled brightly. "That brings your life points down to zero, Joey." Tea set down her cards. "Once again, you lose and I rock!"

"Better luck next time, Joey," Yugi told his friend, patting him on the shoulder. The short high schooler looked up to notice someone holding a newspaper. "Do you mind if I see that?"

The girl handed it over, and Yugi turned to the middle of the newspaper. "The regional championships are in a couple of days," he observed. "It should be interesting to watch, to say the least."

"Huh." Joey was looking over his shoulder, and pointed to a different article. "She's kinda cute."

"Way out of your league, Joey," Tea said dryly. "She'd eat you for breakfast. She's a Sarutobi, I know about her."

The group stared at her. "What? How do you know her?"

"Well, I don't know her _personally_, but her mother was a prima ballerina in France years ago, I remember. She married a Japanese business tycoon, and they had two daughters." She pointed to the picture. "She's the eldest, but it's so sad. Her parents and sister died in an accident."

* * *

It had been two weeks since she had flown from America to Japan, but already she was missing the familiarity of home. Or at least, a part of her was, the young, immature part. The other side of her never wanted to return there again. There were too many memories.

It was time to escape from them.

Glancing at a framed photograph, she pulled it flat against the desk, hiding the faces from looking forward at her and pushing it behind a vase of dark blossoms. She would have to remind her secretary to have the picture removed. Perhaps even burned.

_"Miss Sarutobi? The man you requested to see is here."_

_I hate people who waste my time._ She finished off the paperwork before her with a practiced, deliberate signature. "Let him in." _He only took twenty minutes when I gave him ten to get up here._

Nevermind that her office was at the top floor of a huge skyscraper, even in a city notorious for large buildings. She was in a foul mood, a combination of very little sleep and sheer frustration, and was willing to blame anything for whatever irked her. At that moment, it was the fact that the man standing in the doorway couldn't handle some flights of stairs, or have the intelligence to find an elevator. Granted, if she looked back on all of it, she would say that her anger was probably irrational and probably undeserved. But he didn't need to know that.

"Miss Sarutobi, you called for me?" If it was possible to smell fear, then this man reeked of it in waves. He was already sweating, and she thought him even weaker for it. _A true man would actually stand up for himself, not cower in the corner like a dog._

"Yes, this will not take long," she said coolly. Tucking a dark strand of hair behind an ear, she gestured to one of the two chairs in front of her desk. "Have a seat."

Her displeasure was clear enough that he sat in the chair so quickly there was a rush of air towards her face. So much for reeking of fear, the stench was something else entirely. She suspected that not only did his sweat cling to him in a fog, he had probably spent more time than was acceptable at a bar with a bottle of whiskey as his best friend and confidant. "I understand that the shipping department suffered a mishap with their computer network. A bug in the system, if you will."

"Yes, it did," he said shakily, wiping his forehead with the back of his hand. "It wasn't for too long, we had it fixed in the next hour."

"Mr. Aoshi, do not lie to me. I don't take it very well." She set the papers aside for a moment and drew up a new file. "I actually had to take the time to have the virus traced myself. It took me some time to go through the logs and the networks, but I saw it through personally regardless. The glitch, to put it in the mildest sense, took _four_ hours to repair, not just one. And I think we both know the one responsible for temporarily shutting down the firewalls." She leaned forward. "Logs never lie, not to me. Care to rephrase your argument?"

"It was an accident!"

_Typical of a true escapist. How dull. _"Accident or not, Aoshi, it doesn't matter. I was on the verge of losing a client because of _your_ mistake!" she shouted, her voice climbing in volume. Her fist slammed down to the desk, rattling both the overturned picture frame and the vase, scattering two or three petals to the polished surface. "Do you know how much time and money was wasted on that oversight? Resources that could have been put to better use elsewhere, but instead they were put to cleaning up _your_ mess! A business is like a machine, if one part fails, the rest will suffer for it! But of course...it is just a mistake, after all, right? Some, however, are bigger than others, which is why you are _fired_, Aoshi. I cannot run a company full of dullards like you who make mistakes and refuse to take responsibility for them. It's that kind of thinking that I will never tolerate." As he stared at her, she picked up her pen and clicked it. "Unless you would like for me to _order_ security to throw you out, remove yourself from the premises. Immediately."

While he scurried to the door and practically fell over himself to get out of the spacious office, she toyed with the pen before crossing his name off of a scratched-off list. He was the last to go. Of course, it would take much longer to go through more logs and fire others, but for now she was satisfied. "A business is like a machine. I'm just replacing the faulty parts and cleaning the whole thing with polish so it can run more efficiently than ever before."

Two weeks was enough to miss home, it was true, but it was also long enough to weed out the incompetent idiots from her newly-acquired corporate empire. There would be no mistakes on her part, and she would oversee her father's former company with an iron fist. It was the only way she knew how to succeed. "Is it better to be feared or to be loved," she mused, propping her cheek on her fist as she recalled a book she'd read a week ago. "It is certainly better to be feared, I don't need the love of subordinates. Their duty is to serve, just as it is mine to lead."

* * *

Belladonna Sarutobi was the newly minted owner and CEO of Sarutobi Industries. She had turned eighteen not long before, thus granting her control of the company, but she'd honed the cold mentality and ruthlessness of a woman ten years her senior.

Most girls her age were in school uniforms or in pretty dresses. She, however, preferred to wear tailored suits most of the time, black ones if she could get away with it. A business partner told her once that it made her look like an agent of the devil, which she'd accepted like a compliment. It was exactly what a woman in her position was.

"Being the broker for the devil has its advantages, though," she murmured, making another note in her planner. "I get exactly what I want, when I want it."

_"Miss Sarutobi, your next appointment has arrived."_

"I am very popular today," she muttered, running a hand through her already mussed hair. "The seventh appointment today. I'm told that's a lucky number. Who is it, Yukiko?"

_"The head of KaibaCorp, ma'am."_

"I see. Show him in." She racked her brain for reasons why the head of _that_ particular company, focused mostly around gaming technology, would want to have anything to do with her. To be sure, KaibaCorp was a weapon-mongering hotbed once upon a time when Gozaburo Kaiba ran it. But after the mysterious circumstances surrounding his death, the company instead turned to games and other forms of amusement she generally didn't pay attention to. "Maybe he wants me to build him a new toy."

_"Right away, ma'am."_

She stacked papers together and put them in the waiting briefcase. The clock on the desk read 7:35, and she sighed. She could feel the long hours of the day setting in, and as much as she just wanted to take a nap, it was unacceptable. "Professionalism, Bella, professionalism. Two weeks of this and you're crying over not getting any sleep? Yukiko will have to buy some more coffee, that's all. After this, you can just go home and end this nightmare."

"It comes with the territory. Pulling all-nighters will become second-nature to you."

When she looked up, she saw a tall, slender young man who looked to be around her age. He wore a blue coat that matched his eyes and his hair was brown. He was pretty handsome, she had to admit, for a henchman. There was no way _he_ could be the head of a global monopoly. "I've suffered through a fair share, I know what they're like," she said sweetly, the honey dripping from her voice like arsenic. "I didn't expect the CEO of KaibaCorp to send proxies to talk for him. I was told by a mutual acquaintance that he did everything himself."

A muscle twitched in his jaw and his eyes narrowed. Inwardly, Bella smiled. She'd begun the sparring match with the upper hand. "I'm the head of KaibaCorp," he corrected her testily.

Her eyebrows rose. "I didn't think such a renowned businessman like yourself would be so _young._" She desperately wanted to add _I smell inexperience_, but reined in her tongue at the last minute.

"That sounds pretty funny coming from you. Sorry to cut this nonsense short, but I didn't come here to chat."

She leaned back in her chair and waved at the seat in front of her nonchalantly. "But chat is what establishes business relationships, didn't you know? Or maybe Gozaburo didn't teach you that's how networking's done? Why don't you have a seat."

"Gozaburo didn't teach me anything worth mentioning. Everything I've learned that's useful, I've learned from myself." He jerked the chair back a few inches and settled into it. "Belladonna Sarutobi."

"Seto Kaiba. Ironic, but enough about that. I just moved to Domino a couple of weeks ago, I've barely been able to tell things apart," she sighed, feigning slight distress. Overdoing it always proved fatal. "Yukiko, my secretary, has been keeping tabs on my appointments for me, so please, tell me why you're here."

He smirked a little at that. "What kind of person doesn't even keep track of their own appointments? Just how incompetent are you?"

Her face kept its relatively polite expression, though she was about two smartass remarks away from losing it and smacking him. Her clenched fists underneath the desk were the only things preventing bodily harm from coming to him. _How dare he imply that-No, Bella. Don't let him win._

His eyes said nothing at all as he crossed his arms over his chest. "I'm interested in purchasing a contract from you," Kaiba said calmly, the smug smirk still very evident. "That's what you do, or am I wrong?"

His words kept needling through her skin like tiny barbs. "And let me guess, you'll want me to sign it in my blood and then enslave myself to your will," she replied, her tone one of boredom. Just short of propping her feet on the desk and inspecting her fingernails, she couldn't have made her point more clear.

"That's a little morbid of you. Is that what you want?" he countered, but the smirk didn't disappear. "As fun as it sounds to have you as a servant, I think I'll pass."

She folded her hands and rested her chin on them. _Don't let him win._ "I am a bit morbid, but I think you knew that already." He gave a slight nod but said nothing. She couldn't fault the man for that, at least he'd done his homework. "So, what's this all about?"

He slid a briefcase under the desk. Though his fingers barely missed touching her knee, she could still feel them pass by and had to resist flinching. _I can't shake the feeling that he's either coming on to me or just straight up propositioning me, like I'm his personal-_ "Inside's the full contract, but you won't need to open it yet."

"Ah, so everything's in the suitcase, and I sit on it until you say 'go', yes? What happens if I play a Pandora card and open the dreaded box? What would happen then?"

He restrained himself from rolling his eyes. "Go ahead, I won't stop you. I said you won't _need_ to open it yet, not that you couldn't. It's a construction contract, the details are enclosed."

_Why's he playing so close to the chest?_ "I suppose my payment for this construction contract waits until I've done what you want."

"Not exactly," he corrected, the smile in full force, but it was more of a demented one. _Is this man incapable of changing his smug face into something else?_ "It's in my best interest in the long run to keep you well-compensated, money is no object. A blank check lets me be on the top of your priority list and keep it that way, which is exactly what I want. I will be the first thing you think of in the morning, and the last before you sleep."

She had to hide a grimace. _You're the last thing I want to think about that often. _She stopped. _He seems pretty intense, with it just being a contract. Does he really expect me to cater to his every whim?_ "And what makes you think I'll take it on in the first place? You seem pretty confident that I'll do what you say."

"Oh, you will do what I say, because money talks more than anything else."

"So where is this compensation of yours? Hm? I don't see it anywhere."

Kaiba pulled out an envelope from his coat and slid it across the desk, then stood and went to the door. "That's for that top-priority slot with a little extra on top. It should hit the spot, even for someone like you."

She stared at the door long after it had closed behind the bastard. She reached for the envelope, but had a sudden change of heart and grabbed a vase instead. Shattering it violently against the wall, Bella hurled more things across the room and in every direction. Just as she was overturning a bookcase in her fury, destroying thousands of dollars in fine china in the process, Yukiko poked her head through the adjoining room. "Miss Sarutobi?"

"Who does that prick think he is?" she shouted, throwing a book across the room, followed by a paperweight that shattered a pane of glass, then cracking against the stone. "Waltzing in here like he's God's great gift to man, like he owns everything in this room, like he owns _me!_ Like he can buy me, like I'm some kind of mistress to him, or his lapdog! How _dare_ he! I have to wait until I get _his_ permission! And he thinks a little extra money will make me go along with it? I can't _believe_ him!"

"Miss Sarutobi...?"

Bella slid a hand over her face and took a deep breath, turning to face the windows behind the desk. She began to pace, pinching the bridge of her nose. "Wait, wait. He's trying to pull a partnership between KaibaCorp and Sarutobi Industries, that's it, and I can't ruin it. Obviously he was trying to feel me out to see what I was like, but I can't back down from it now. It's my big chance at this, it would only prove more that I made the right choice and that I'm more than capable of taking control of this company. I still _hate_ him, I have to tolerate him, and his type is just going to be a thorn in my side and make my life absolutely miserable until he gets what he wants." _I guess I'll just squeeze him dry before he gets me. I'll make sure he makes it worth my while. But damn, I hate him!_

Yukiko picked her way through the mess very carefully. "Miss Sarutobi?"

"What, Yukiko?"

"I'll call the designers to come and fix up the office. This won't do for your schedule you have tomorrow. What do you want to use as your excuse? They will be very curious."

Bella pondered on it for a moment, contemplating her different options. "If they ask, and _only_ if they ask, tell them I was with someone," she replied dryly, fetching her coat and shrugging it over her shoulders. "Let them speculate what happened. If they ask who, give them a name, no details. Let them have fun with that."

"Any name, or did you have one in mind already?"

Though it was probably immature, but she couldn't resist the last final dig at him. "Kaiba would be at the top of the list, I think. It might put him on the ropes for a while and keep him out of my hair while I finish sorting out everything in my life. School, company purging, I don't have time for an annoying baby dragon. Just have to swat him away before he becomes a pest."

"Very good, ma'am."


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: My apologies for the wait. My plan is to update this story twice a week, so that way I can have it finished sooner. However, this past week has been pretty hectic, and I'm sorry. Here's to hoping this chapter's worth it. :) As a side note, I am following the basic storyline of the English dub, which means I will be using the dubbed names, like Joey Wheeler as opposed to Jounochi Katsuya. My reasons for this are pretty easy to explain: a lot of people have difficulty with Japanese pronunciation, and I am catering to those readers.  
**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh!  
**

**Chapter Two**

_Who will never believe_

_That which others say of me_

"If only the uniforms at this school weren't this hideous color," Bella complained under her breath, tugging at the pink jacket. "I would have been happy with _anything_ else, but pink? Please, it's so cliché."

She looked to her schedule and made her way to the classroom with her next subject. She didn't really _need_ to be in school to learn anything, but the diploma was a formality she couldn't escape, no matter how hard she tried. She pushed open the door and peered inside. She may have only just acquired a company worth billions, but she was just another name on the roll call. It was better not to act like a smug brat right away.

"Excuse me. I'm a new student."

The teacher looked up from the board mid-word. "You must be Sarutobi. Please, come in."

Bella put on a meek smile as she entered the room. "Thank you very much."

The teacher turned to face the rest of the class with her. "Class, this is Belladonna Sarutobi. She will be joining us for the rest of the term. Go ahead and introduce yourself."

Bella had to think for a minute. "My name is Belladonna Sarutobi, and I've just moved here from America. I like to draw, and I want to be a world-class architect someday. It's very nice to meet you all."

The other students murmured a response, and the teacher nodded. "Sit between Wheeler and Kaiba, in that empty seat there. Please borrow a textbook from them to share, and turn to page 203."

She could feel the hairs on the back of her neck prickle when she locked gazes with the bastard she dealt with the day before: Seto Kaiba. She was expected to sit next to _him?_ It may have been juvenile, but she did _not_ want to be anywhere near him.

"Nice to see you again, Sarutobi," he said snidely as she took her seat.

"I can't say the same," she shot back.

"Sarutobi, share a textbook, and turn to the page along with the rest of the class," the teacher said sharply.

The boy called Wheeler grinned at her. "How 'bout we share a textbook?"

"Are you sure you even _remembered_ your textbook, Wheeler?" Kaiba had a book before him, and handed it over to her. "I don't even need this, I've read it already."

"I don't want your charity—"

"Who even said this was charity? If you knew me at all, you'd understand that I don't have the right mentality to be charitable."

"Sarutobi! Kaiba! One more word, and you'll both have detention!"

Bella sighed but kept quiet. She gave the boy next to her a glare, then opened the textbook. She dearly hoped that she'd be able to change seats eventually. She didn't think she'd be able to handle the smartass quips from her right.

* * *

The bell rang for the end of the day. Bella buttoned her book bag shut and slung it over her shoulder. She'd be able to go home, change clothes and clean herself up before dealing with more appointments until late in the evening.

Her pocket vibrated and she pulled out her cell phone. "Yes, what do you want?" She weaved her way through the students. "It was all right. My class is full of idiots. One has crazy hair and doesn't look anywhere near his age. Another one doesn't have much personality and looks like a henchman for the others. The blonde sits next to me, he's just a delinquent. The girl's sappiness is just nauseating."

She chuckled at the response from the other line. "Oh, him? He sits on the other side of me. I had a meeting with him yesterday, we have another one in a couple of hours. Hm? He's an arrogant, selfish, egocentric, anti-social prick who's worth billions and thinks he's the greatest thing since sliced bread. I think that about covers it."

"_Excuse_ me?"

She blinked, but she knew that voice too well by now. Enough so that she didn't even need to look to know who had spoken. "I think I'll have to call you back, have to take care of a little problem."

Sure enough. Seto Kaiba stood there fuming, his fists clenched and shaking, jaw muscles twitching. "Care to repeat what you just said?"

"With pleasure, I can even embellish this time," she replied, running a hand through her hair. "Arrogant. Selfish. Egocentric. Anti-social. Prick. Now let's start with immature."

"You're calling _me_ immature?"

"Did I stutter?"

"You clearly have no idea who you're dealing with."

"_Au contraire._" She interrupted, shaking her head. "I've done my research on you. Seto Kaiba, eighteen years old, brown hair, blue eyes, over six feet tall. President of KaibaCorp and legal guardian of your brother. You're considered the wealthiest man on the planet. You're also obsessed with a game called Duel Monsters. Am I getting warm?"

His eyes narrowed. "I assume _you_ don't duel, or we'd have this settled by now."

You make it sound so awful. Is it so surprising that I've never played your favorite game? Honestly, I would have thought you'd have outgrown it by now. Don't you think you're too old to have your whole life revolving around a children's card game?"

"I've heard enough out of you!"

"I guess we're in agreement. Do try to be on time for your appointment. I wouldn't want you standing me up."

* * *

Bella yawned and stretched a little before eyeing the clock, then pressing a button on her desk. "Yukiko, hold my appointments for a while, if you could."

_"But ma'am, Mr. Kaiba will be here in ten minutes."_

"Exactly my point. Just let him in on time, not early, no matter how much he presses you." She reached into a drawer and pulled out paper, two pencils, a ruler, and an eraser. "Please."

_"Yes, ma'am."_

She set the paper in front of her and put a finger cushion on one of the pencils. _I've been dealing with morons all day, five minutes is not too much to ask._

Though she'd been tutored in every subject she'd need for the business world, she loved studying art and architecture. For as long as she could remember, creating things that would last for years had always appealed to her. The clean lines of skyscrapers, the beautiful shine of the sun on glass, the sharp glare of metal, she loved it all.

It was taking her gift, however small, and giving it to the world, one thing of beauty at a time. A sense of purpose, of timelessness, of immortality for the aspects of the world she cherished.

She didn't even realize how much time had passed or even hear the door open. When she reached for her eraser, though, she was snapped back to reality by the sensation of someone else in the room.

"How long have you been sitting there?"

"Long enough."

There was no point in asking why he was even there in the first place, it would be useless. "To what do I owe the pleasure?"

"Hmph. I'm willing to forget what happened today," Kaiba began, crossing his legs. "I understand that you have a one-time partnership with Industrial Illusions to help construct the dueling platforms. Is that what you've been working on?"

"Not quite." She picked the pencil back up, and laid a ruler down on the paper. "I've already completed the requested analyses for the dueling platforms and the proper power options for them. You wouldn't believe how much power holographic fields eat up. There has to be a better option, but it was a rush job from the beginning, so I couldn't give him my best."

"That sounds like Pegasus, wanting second rate work," he scoffed.

She gritted her teeth. "Are you calling my work second rate? I'll have you know that I'm one of the most widely sought-after architect. Are you here to insult me?"

He chuckled. "Not exactly. That's Pegasus's loss. Rest assured, I was not being insulting to you this time."

She chose to ignore the last and continue to line the paper. "This is for me, actually. I've been working on the blueprints for four years, perfecting them and redoing them. I'm only allowed a few minutes a day to work on them and look over the results. It's not done, but the process is just as good as the end product will be."

"What is it?"

Bella smiled. "I think I'll wait to tell you that much. I actually called your secretary for this appointment to ask as politely as I can whether or not I can take a peak in Pandora's Briefcase."

"I told you, you don't need my permission," he replied, but his tone said more of _I still want you to ask nicely. Or beg._

_It'll take a lot more to get me on my knees, Seto Kaiba._ "I still would like your permission. Do I have to say pretty please, or bow down on the floor?"

"It couldn't hurt." He smirked. "Not necessary, Sarutobi. Go ahead and open it."

She reached under the desk and laid the case on her desk. Flipping the switches open, she lifted the side and looked inside. There was a medium-sized stack of papers inside. Lifting one of the sheets, her fingers slid over the paper, feeling the high quality smoothness. It was instructions for a set of blueprints, and a contract for the entire deal.

"I heard from a contact of mine that you're the best when it comes to designing state of the art buildings. I'm willing to go out on a limb and have you create something for me. Hopefully, you can measure up to my high standards."

"Is that a challenge?" Bella was grinning fully.

"Since you don't duel, I suppose that it is, in its own way."

She set the papers in front of her and removed the briefcase. She skimmed one page, then another. Her eyebrows went up. "This is quite a request. It would take longer than most deals I've made. Months to perfect."

"Then it's a good thing I don't need it right away, you can take your time. And it's not a request. This is a demand."

Her eyes flicked from the typed words to his face, then back to the paper. "This is a hefty demand, then. It's something that will tie us together. Are you sure you can stomach seeing me every day until I deliver on this contract?"

"Are you sure _you_ can stomach me?" he countered, folding his hands in front of his face.

"Don't flatter yourself, you won't give me any trouble worth mentioning." She set the papers down on the desk and rested her fingertips together before her face. "You may have high standards, Kaiba, but don't worry. I always surpass any expectation set before me. Of course, you'll have to get in line, Pegasus and his request came to me before yours even crossed the steps of my building," she continued, shaking her head when he tried to protest. "No matter how much you pay me, you'll still have to wait a few more days."

"Fine. I'll wait, but I expect to hear from you what you plan to do with that contract. Any ideas you have will have to go through me first."

"Fair enough. I expected something like that, and even if you didn't suggest it, I would have. Nothing's worse than stopping halfway through the design process and having to scrap any headway I'd have made, just because it doesn't measure up to your vision."

"If that's all, I'll be going," Kaiba said, standing up.

"What's the rush?"

"In case you hadn't heard, my brother's gone missing, and I think I know where to find him." He went to the door and opened it. "We may see each other sooner than you think."

When the door closed, she rested a palm on her forehead. "I hope not."

**A/N: Hope you liked it! R&R!**

**Also, before anyone starts going "Why is she speaking French?", there are reasons, and if you go back to the beginning of Chapter One, you'll see that her mother was French. Bella is half Japanese, and half French, and spent years traveling between the Eastern Seaboard of America, Northern France, and Japan. Hopefully that clears up some discrepancies. :)  
**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: So sorry about the lateness, and how short it is in comparison. I'm trying to move the story along, and I had to finish off this chapter in any way I could.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh!  
**

**Chapter Three**

_The moon will look upon your face_

_And be jealous, She cannot compare_

Bella set her school bag next to the desk in her office, and took off the pink jacket of her uniform. She stuffed it and the blue neck ribbon underneath her seat, and opened her laptop.

While it powered up, she glanced at the silver briefcase on the other wall. She'd get on Kaiba's little pet project after she emailed the final specs to Industrial Illusions. Granted, it wouldn't be in time for his famously advertised Duelist Kingdom. She realized that it was very lucrative to get into the game business, but to have one's sight so narrowly focused on it was kinda stupid.

Her phone rang, and she picked it up. "Belladonna Sarutobi."

The screen beside the phone lit up with the face of Maximillion Pegasus. _"Hello there, Bella dear. How good to see you."_

"Funny, I was just going to send a fairly important email your way," she said with a half-smile.

_"Is that so?_" He laughed. _"I had a feeling I'd be hearing from you today, and my instincts are never wrong. What do you have for me?"_

"Those specs that you requested are finished. I was wondering if you wanted me to send them to you now."

_"How cold of you! Do you just want to get rid of me?"_

"Yes, Pegasus. I'm a busy person. I don't have time to cater to your stupid games."

He pouted. _"Bella, dear, you're not going to be a fun person to be around if you keep acting like that. Games are what preserve youth and vitality, and you're just going to be an old maid."_ He waved a hand at her and sighed. _"I don't want that email from you. Bring it here to Duelist Kingdom."_

Her eye began to twitch as she clenched her fist around her pen. "I don't think—"

_"But I insist! I'll be expecting you here!"_ With that, the screen went blank, the line dead.

Her fist shook as she finally slammed the phone down on the receiver. "Does everyone in this world exist just to tick me off?" As much as it got under her skin, she couldn't exactly refuse. After all, he was paying her a considerable amount, and the press from the deal was unbelievably good. She'd have to rearrange her schedule for him after all.

She pressed the button to page her secretary. "Yukiko. Ready the private jet for a round trip, bound for Duelist Kingdom."

It was a testament to both how well the woman had been trained to do whatever her boss required and how many crazy requests she had to handle. _"Right away, ma'am."_

_

* * *

_

"Computer, before I leave, conduct a general profile of someone."

_"May I ask who it is?"_

"Belladonna Sarutobi."

The computer whirred for a few minutes, then quieted down. _"Belladonna Sarutobi, age eighteen, born January first. Capricorn, blood type A. Half French, half Japanese by descent, born in Northern France. Her family has three main estates, one in France, one in America, and one in Japan. Her family includes her father Akira Sarutobi, her mother Adelaide St. Claire, and her sister Madeline Sarutobi. All three are deceased."_

Pictures of the three came up on the screen, along with a family photo, and he leaned back in his chair. The father, Akira Sarutobi, had been in his mid fifties at his time of death. His graying hair was cut short, and he had dark eyes like his daughter. The mother and younger sister were nearly identical, fair haired with light amber eyes. In the family picture, she'd had her arms around her sister, and Bella's dark hair had then been streaked with dark blue, as opposed to the aqua that now ran through the black.

"How did they die?"

_"There's no information regarding the cause of death, just that it happened about two years ago. The only other thing I can find is that she was prohibited from taking control of her father's company until she was eighteen, as per the Board of Directors' ruling that the CEO must be legally of age."_

"Hmm." He folded his hands in front of his face. "Someone's covering their tracks. Clearly they were murdered, but why was she spared? Why kill the parents and the sister, but leave the oldest one alive as the sole heir to a multi-million dollar corporation? Was it an assassination for money, or power, or was it a personal grudge?"

He shook his head and got up. "Erase all that information."

_"You don't want to save the search?"_

"No. I don't want it getting traced back to me. Someone's erased the information about her family, and I don't want her finding out I was looking into her personal life out of nothing more than curiosity."

**A/N: Told you it was woefully short, but hopefully I will have more within the next few days. Leave a review!  
**

**Seto Kaiba is a Scorpio, type A, 19 years old. Bella is a Capricorn, type A, and 18 years old. Woo.  
**


End file.
